ISSN: 1579-9794

Hikma 24 (Número especial II) (2025), 1 - 7

Introduction

Bridging the Gap: Didactic Audiovisual Translation at the

Nexus of Linguistics, Translation, and Pedagogy

Introducción

Construyendo puentes: La traducción audiovisual

didáctica en el cruce de caminos de la Lingüística, la

foster plurilingual and intercultural competence in language learners. In this

context, a few decades ago, one area emerged to provide a fertile ground for

innovation: Didactic Audiovisual Translation (DAT). This area of research and

practice deals with the pedagogical applications of Audiovisual Translation

(AVT) modes—such as subtitling, dubbing, audio description (AD), or

descriptive subtitles (also known as Subtitles for the Deaf and hard of Hearing

or SDH) within a well-founded methodological framework that results in a

multimedia, creative and engaging task-based scenario for language learners

and translator trainees (Talaván et al., 2023).

specific spatial, temporal, and linguistic constraints that vary depending on the

AVT mode chosen for the DAT task, which constitutes an extra motivational

challenge. In pedagogical terms, the cognitive effort required to condense,

adapt, rephrase, and reformulate meaning so as to convey it across different

channels (aural and visual) and modes (linguistic and semiotic) has proved to

enhance critical thinking, metalinguistic awareness, digital skills, and

creativity, apart from developing integrated communicative skills and cultural

awareness (Plaza et al., 2024).

originated from a careful selection of proposals derived from the 1st

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research in a field that seems to be moving from niche experimentation

(specially resulting from teaching innovation projects) to mainstream

pedagogical integration (thanks to the support of bigger and longer-term

projects, such as ClipFlair, PluriTAV or TRADILEX). The core objective of the

conference was to shed light on the most tangible, empirical evidence that

supports the use of AVT as a relevant and effective tool in the context of

language education and translator training. All the information and the

complete videos of the conference are openly available here:

https://blogs.uned.es/tradit23/. The present special issue intends to share the

main objective of TRADIT23 by providing relevant related samples of research

frameworks, and the practical implementation of various DAT practices across

diverse educational contexts. Collectively, all papers underscore the

relevance of DAT as not merely an auxiliary pedagogical resource but as a

didactic approach on its own right. The seven papers can be grouped on four

specific areas: Media Accessibility, Plurilingualism, Technology and

Innovation, and Specialized Languages and Translator Training.

accessibility modes—specifically didactic SDH (or descriptive subtitles) and

AD, and their usefulness in fostering general language skills (Talaván &

Tinedo-Rodríguez, 2025). These modes require students to develop a deep

activities on language education. It should be noted that the commitment to

research into this area, exemplified by the TRADILEX project mentioned in

one of the articles, demonstrates an ethically grounded effort to link DAT with

the wider social goals of accessibility and inclusion.

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with their linguistic knowledge and skills (Fonseca-Mora & González Davies,

2022). However, the specific role of DAT in fostering PPC has not been widely

researched as yet (Baños et al., 2021); fortunately, once again, two of the

selected papers of this issue address this gap.

emerging potential of more technologically advanced AVT modes, such as

Respeaking. This mode involves speech recognition technology to produce

subtitles, so it represents a unique cognitive challenge, since it combines oral

proficiency with interpretation and transcription skills. The article dedicated to

respeaking also emphasizes the pedagogical advantages of integrating real-

complex, domain-specific audiovisual content (as it is the case of a pharmacy

postgraduate setting), students are forced to internalize specialised

terminology and discursive structures, a task far more engaging and

memorable than traditional vocabulary memorization. In the context of

translator training, on the other hand, the two works contained herein

scrutinize how DAT can be used to cultivate macro-competences, particularly

concerning relevant social issues such as gender. Such approach may help

future translators to better navigate ethical and sociolinguistic challenges in

their professional practice (Rodríguez Muñoz & Blázquez Rodríguez, 2024).

Rodríguez Muñoz. This work links DAT to the professional realities of legal

translation, as it describes how didactic subtitling can effectively sensitize

trainee translators to the complexity of translating gendered and culturally

sensitive legal discourse. It proposes and implements a Lesson Plan that uses

a short extract from the film Kramer vs. Kramer with the aim of developing the

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to handle legal translation tasks.

Hearing and Audio Description as Integrated Activities in the English as a

Foreign Language Classroom: An Exploratory Study,” and is authored by

Micol Beseghi. Here, a successful didactic project that implemented SDH and

AD in an Italian university's English Language Master’s course to promote C1-

C2 language and mediation skills is presented. The findings of the related

study, based on student questionnaires and learning diaries, demonstrate

significant benefits in fostering productive skills, motivation, media

accessibility awareness, as well as intralingual and intersemiotic mediation

the factors, classroom applications, and evaluation principles of respeaking,

describing how it can simultaneously develop core linguistic skills (especially

oral-to-written transfer and listening comprehension) and make language

students aware of the modern communication demands of the present society

as regards AVT and media accessibility.

practice via well-grounded quasi-experimental research. In “The Impact of

Didactic Audiovisual Translation on Plurilingual Competence: a Quantitative

Exploratory Study,” Anna Marzà and Beatriz Cerezo-Merchán merge DAT

with the core precepts of multilingual education, specifically regarding the

following article: “Didactic Intralingual Subtitling and Voice-Over to Enhance

Writing and Speaking Skills: Training English for Specific Purposes (ESP)

Tutors and Teaching Pharmacy Postgraduates”, by Jennifer Lertola. This

study represents, once again, well-grounded research that provides empirical

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Thus, the article offers both a proven methodological approach accompanied

by evidence of efficacy that may well serve as a model for future related

implementations.

Handmaid’s Tale with the Support of AV Materials”, by Mazal Oaknín,

provides a model for integrating didactic literary translation with transmedia

texts to enhance plurilingual and translation skills in higher education learners.

It utilizes The Handmaid’s Tale across its novel, series, and real-world news

formats to create task-based, practical mediation exercises compliant with the

CEFR. The methodology is innovative as it includes multimodal input—where

audiovisual materials’ potential, once more, not just as a language learning

resource, but as a vehicle for promoting social and civic values.

improvements based on didactic audio description and SDH,” co-authored by

José Javier Ávila-Cabrera and Antonio Roales Ruíz. This final paper

addresses the two main didactic media accessibility modes again (didactic AD

and SDH), but this time within the framework of the TRADILEX Project. In this

case, with the help of a control group and an experimental group, relevant

data was gathered and assessed both quantitative and qualitatively so as to

validate the ability of didactic media accessibility to enhance integrated

comprehensive toolkit and a robust body of evidence that can help them

understand the discipline. Through the various articles, it has been proven that

by teaching learners to develop mediation skills in audiovisual settings they

can better understand the complex plurilingual and multimodal world around

them. All in all, the overall picture painted by these studies is one of a

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REFERENCES

Baños, R., Marzà, A., & Torralba, G. (2021). Promoting plurilingual and

Council of Europe (2020). Common European Framework of Reference for

Plaza, C., Ogea-pozo, M. del M., & Botella-Tejera, C. (2024). Empirical

Rodríguez Muñoz, M. L., & Blázquez Rodríguez, I. (2024). Propuesta de

Talaván, N., Lertola, J., & Fernández-Costales, A. (2023). Didactic

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